Peanut Butter Swirl Pretzel Brownies

Pretzels in brownies. Who would have thought? I brought these brownies into work and everyone loved them. I had to convince some people that pretzels in brownies were good and not weird. It took some hard convincing. But really just think of a peanut butter M&M and a pretzel M&M and eat them together. That's normalish right? You MUST try these. Like right now. I promise you will not be disappointed. 

Note: The recipe makes enough to fill an 8x8 baking pan. I doubled the recipe and made it stretch into a 9x13 baking pan. The recipe below is for the 8x8.

Ingredients


For the Brownie:
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 tsp instant coffee (optional)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

For the Peanut Butter Filling:
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

large handful of pretzel sticks

Directions
Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 325F. Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan (you can also line with parchment paper, I probably should have done that). Boil two inches of water in a medium saucepan (we're creating a double boiler here). Combine butter, unsweetened chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate and coffee powder in a heat proof bowl. Place the bowl over the simmering water (thus a double boiler). Stir until the chocolate and butter melt. Remove the double boiler (use a pot holder please, let's not get burned here). Let the mixture cool slightly and then add the vanilla extract. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Then, whisk granulated sugar into the chocolate and butter mixture. Then add the eggs into the same mixture (make sure the mixture isn't too hot otherwise we'll have scrambled eggs). Fold the flour mixture into the chocolate. Then, spoon the chocolate into the prepared baking pan. To make the peanut butter filling, whisk together peanut butter, melted butter, powdered sugar, salt and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth. Spoon the peanut butter mixtures into the chocolate mixture in drops. What I did was make 6-7 big spoonfuls of the peanut butter mixture sporadically in the chocolate mixture. So you'll have 6 little peanut butter islands in a sea of chocolate (yes I just said that). Then with a knife, swirl the peanut butter through the chocolate to get a nice design. Arrange the pretzel sticks on top of the brownie batter in whatever pattern you choose. Bake at 325F for 40 to 45 minutes or when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cook for half an hour before slicing.

Source: Recipe from the fabulous Joy the Baker